The Gift
by emeraldislegirl
Summary: ZA Richonne: At a pivotal moment in their relationship, Rick and Michonne take a walk down memory lane. Note: I don't own these characters. Rick, Michonne, R.J. with memories of Carl.


**The Gift**

* * *

"Come on, baby, push! He's almost here."

Michonne was exhausted. They had been at it for twelve hours now, perspiration soaked her brows and the gown she wore.

Rick looked at his wife with compassion wishing he could somehow alleviate her pain, but settled for the dead man's grip on his shooting hand as he wiped the sweat from her face.

Michonne tried hard to summon her remaining strength, she bared down screaming and gave one final push.

Siddiq caught the baby, "Congratulations, it's a boy!" He added placing the baby in the towel on Michonne's stomach and using a clean towel to wipe the baby clean.

Both Rick and Michonne looked upon their son with love too overwhelmed to speak. Rick warm tears spilled silently down his face as he placed his index finger into his son's little fist.

Richard James Grimes Jr., was a tiny little bundle with a pinkish skin tone. He was wrapped in a towel snuggled in his mother's arms. He opened his eyes for the first time and his voice filled the room.

"He's got a healthy set of lungs on him. We'll give you two a few minutes and then Rosita will clean him up for you." Siddiq added as he prepared to leave the room.

"Thank you," Rick added completely overwhelmed by the emotions of the moment.

Michonne knew how hard the moment would be for him having lost Carl about two years before. It had taken him some time to crawl out of the darkness and into the light once more. She too, missed Carl every day, his presence, his smile, his caring eyes but most of all her friend. He was her first friend within the group but she had had to temper her own grief to save Rick from sinking even further into his. She had lost two sons a pain which will always be apart of her though it dulls with each passing day, the hole remained. But the universe was merciful it had blessed them both with another child to cherish.

Her hand touched his and their eyes connected, she knew he would be okay because she was okay. It was their thing a simple touch could reassure the other without the need for words.

R.J. was taken away momentarily to be cleaned up allowing his parents a few moments to themselves.

"Thank you!"

"For what? The last twelve hours I have been nothing but a bitch to you and for that, I'm truly sorry… I forgot what it was like, but in my defence, I had drugs when I delivered Andre."

"That's why I said thank you… I know it wasn't easy for you… hell, I've been shot and beaten to a pulp, but none of it ever lasted twelve hours without some kind drugs for relief. I dunno why any woman would have chosen that as an option…you know... before the world went to shit." Rick added taking her hand to his lips and kissing it.

"Babe…" Michonne began but didn't have the strength to finish.

"Mm?"

"R.J. needs to be fed…"

"Yeah, I'll get him."

**….**

_**A day later...**_

Rick sat at his wife's bedside watching his wife and son bond. The sound of his son's suckling filled the otherwise small room.

Michonne's hand reached out and touched his face, her curled fingers caressed his soft grey beard as her warm dark brown eyes met his sky blue orbs. It caused him to smile.

"It finally grew on you, didn't?"

Michonne's brow creased not following his train of thought.

"Don't you remember the first gift you ever gave to me?"

"Your life?"

"Nah… that came after, but thank you for that too because it led to the best gift of all… our son."

"You'll have to refresh my memory, what was my first gift to you then?"

"You had just returned from hunting the Governor. That mornin' when you rode up on Flame Carl and I were in the prison yard and we let you in…"

At the mention of Carl's name, they both looked at one another and held hands. There was a moment of silence between them.

Rick cleared his throat then continued, "You dug into your satchel and pulled out a handful of comics and gave them to him... I had never seen Carl's face lit up like that before… he was happy. That's when it all started you know..."

"When what started, babe?"

"When I started noticing that he was going to be okay. But it all depended on me opening up… to trust and let people in."

"I gave you a gift that changed all that?"

"Yeah… you made my son smile. He was never that way even with his own mother. I started noticing how he sulked whenever you were gone but he would become alive and happy again whenever you came back."

"I miss him too... every day," Michonne added her emotions choking her speech.

"Me too, .. I think he would have been over the moon to have a lil brother," Rick added to lighten things up.

"I think so too. So what was this gift that took you down memory lane?"

Rick chuckled, "You gave me an electric razor…"

It was her turn to chuckle, "In retrospect that was kinda dumb, don't you think? What were you going to do with it? The prison had no power."

"It's what it represented that was important to me…"

Michonne's brow creased again, "I don't follow."

"Don't you? It said to me that despite you telling me never to touch you again, the door wasn't completely closed, that you thought about me while you were out there… that there was still hope for me yet."

Michonne switched R.J. to her other breast as a means of distraction. "R.J., are you listening to this? Your daddy's a deep thinker… a philosopher even." She teased.

"Is that so, you should have seen the look on your face when I opened the door when you came back from your interview with Deanna…"

_**...**_

_Michonne recalled him opening the front door that afternoon, his damp curls were an unruly mess. Her eyes feasted on his beautiful bone structure taking in his cerulean blues, his Roman nose, his sexy cheekbones, his pink lips… the bottom one a little fuller and poutier, and his strong jawline. It wasn't as if she was shallow but damn! Who would have ever guessed that all this sex appeal was buried beneath a mountain man's beard, she bit her bottom lip and exhaled._

_It was not all the reaction she had expected her cheeks burned. There was no place to look but at him. She was caught red-handed. He was shirtless, his chest glistened from the water on it and her eyes travelled shamelessly down his toned chest to where the vee disappeared below his waistband, she blushed and swallowed hard causing her lower lips to involuntarily clenched and her breathing to deepen._

_After that incident, she noticed him checking her out without even trying to hide it. The sexual tension between them grew and came to a head at Deanna's party. That night, when the woman walked into the room wearing their sexy patrol gear a hush fell over the room._

_The Alexandrians who hid behind their steel fortified wall did not know what hit them nor did their men, Glenn, Abraham, Rick, and Spencer, Rosita's newest fling who were huddled together in kitchen drinking._

_Rick saw them first as Michonne walked into the room in what he would later call saran wrap. He had just taken a sip of his beer when his eyes grew huge, but as he removed the bottle from his lips the liquid sprayed from his mouth._

_"What the fuck, dumb-ass?" Glenn reproached. But Abe soon followed suit, causing the other two to turn around to see what had caused their behaviour._

_The crowed room parted leaving at its centre the four sirens. All eyes women and men alike were on the four women._

_One by one as the men regained their composure they flanked their women; it was a comical display of staking their territory when in fact the women were the ones who were in charged because they caused the spectacle._

**.…**

_Upon receiving the invitation to Deanna's Welcome Soirée, the women were ecstatic. They were finally in a place where they could let their hair down for a change. It had been a week since they were behind the great walls of Alexandria and they were no longer covered in blood and guts on a daily basis, so they organized the sexy mission run in search of clothes to wear to the party._

_The girls: Sasha, Maggie, and Rosita were on a mission to hook her up with the former sheriff's deputy. The women were of the point of view, they were already eye fucking one another so they might as well make it real like the sports slogan from the old world said, 'just do it'._

_The mission was a success. The girls all selected dresses of different styles and colours but the theme was simple, short and sexy anything that made them feel like they did before the world went to shit._

_In preparation for the night, Sasha wove Michonne's locks into a huge braid which hung in front on her left side._

_Michonne's dress was a little white off the shoulder bodycon number. It had a slight vee cut at the centre together with her pushup strapless bra it caused her breasts to be on full display while the rest of her dress clung to_ _and accentuated every curve of her body. On her feet, she wore open-toed high-heeled sandals showcasing red toenails to match her red lipstick and nails._

_Rosita in her red strappy number was the first to disappear given they were already close to her boyfriend's lair, next Abraham took Sasha _in her little black dress_ by the hand making up so cockamamie story to leave. Maggie wore blue for Glenn who led her blushing all the way out the front door. It was just the two of them left standing as the crowd which parted before slowly returned to normal milling about tongues wagging about the scene they caused. Only then did they see him behind his new friends, Carl tipped his sheriff's hat and gave them the thumbs up._

_Rick took her by the hand and promptly walked her back home. They barely closed her bedroom door behind them when their lips locked in a fight for dominance, moans punctuated the stillness of the house and clothes started flying._

_**...**_

"So, if I understand you correctly, we became a couple because of that razor?"

"We would have eventually gotten here, remember Carl was already sold on you. It took that razor and some profound thinking on my part to understand the deeper meaning behind the gift."

_In order to bring stories to the Richonne fandom, we writers also need your written support, so please don't forget to leave a review in the box below. Much appreciated thanks. **#KeepRichonneAlive**_


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